Shut Up! Cartoons pacts with Gotham Group

Toon talent rep to shepherd TV adaptations of YouTube channel

Original YouTube channel “Shut Up! Cartoons” may be making the leap from the digital screen to TV thanks to a deal inked with management company the Gotham Group.

Gotham Group will rep “Shut Up! Cartoons” for TV and brand extensions. “Shut Up!,” a spin-off from YouTube channel “Smosh,” boasts 18 short-form Web series that include 180 episodes aimed at the 12-24 year old demo. To date, “Shut Up!” has accrued over 625,000 subscribers and 55 million video views since its April launch.

Online property, owned by Alloy Digital, is the brainchild of Smosh prexy and former chief of Disney TV Animation Barry Blumberg along with Smosh co-founders Anthony Padilla and Ian Hecox. Smosh has already proven to be a success on YouTube with young demos and is the third-most subscribed channel on YouTube overall.

“We’re thrilled to join forces with the foremost animation management team in order to more fully leverage the phenomenal growth we have seen for ‘Shut Up! Cartoons’ since Day One,” said Blumberg. “It allows us to build the brand and enhance cross-promotion for the core YouTube channel.”

This method of culling TV content from the online incubators has already proven fruitful for some. Viral YouTube hit “Annoying Orange” made a successful transition from Web to TV this summer on Cartoon Network.

“‘Shut Up! Cartoons’ has the marketable content and breakthrough talent that is in such high demand in today’s media climate,” said Gotham Group topper and founder Ellen Goldsmith-Vein.

Said Blumberg: “The networks have expressed their tremendous interest in these individual shows and the entire Shut Up! Cartoons brand. They essentially have confirmed what we believed from the beginning, that they all have great potential as traditional media extensions of a powerful digital brand.”